MILWAUKEE – Kyle Wyman (KWR/Millennium Technologies) cemented his mastery of the Daytona draft by winning his third AMA Pro Vance & Hines Harley Davidson series race in four career tries at Daytona International Speedway Friday, expertly setting up a final lap move that brought him to the front of an 11-rider pack battling for the victory on the last of seven laps around the famed 3.5-mile road course.

Wyman’s 0.068-second margin of victory turned the tables on runner-up Tyler O’Hara (Josh Chisum Racing/Bartels’ H-D), who last year dashed the 2011 and 2012 Daytona winner’s hopes of a third-straight win by a nearly identical margin. Gage McAllister (Folsom H-D) rounded out the podium, as polesitter and defending 2013 series champion Steve Rapp (Aerostar Global/Suburban Motors H-D) fell back in the early laps with a mechanical issue.

“It was awesome,” Wyman said. “This is what we live for, and I was just loving it. That’s the third win for me, and I just love this place. I spent all winter thinking about coming here to Daytona. I’m just so happy to be up here. It was a long year last year, and I feel like we’re off on the right foot."

Making a strong start from the second row of the grid, O’Hara took the lead into the first turn and led the pack over the line to complete the first lap. As the race developed, a succession of riders hit the front, including former series champions Michael Barnes (Chili Pepper Racing) and Danny Eslick (Ruthless Racing/Trev Deeley Motorcycles), as the leading group grew from five to seven to 11 riders on the last lap.

With each rider dicing for the best position from which to contest the critical last-lap sprint out of the backstretch chicane through the track’s final banked corners, Eslick, the 2010 series champion, found himself in the unenviable position of leading at the exit of the chicane. Sensing the swarm of riders ready to overtake him, he backed off on the high banks, slotting back into the train in fourth position, but as the pack came to the line five-wide, it was Wyman who had outfoxed everyone. Sling-shotting into the lead as the pack crossed the start-finish line, Wyman’s winning margin over 11th place finisher David Estok (Thrashed Bike Racing) was only 0.647 second.

The second round in the AMA Pro Vance & Hines Harley Davidson series is May 30-June 1 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.

Daytona International Speedway Race Results:

1. Kyle Wyman (KWR/Millennium Technologies), 7 laps

2. Tyler O’Hara (Josh Chisum Racing/Bartels’ H-D), +0.068

3. Gage McAllister (Folsom H-D), +0.108

4. Nicholas Hansen (Aerostar Global/Suburban Motors H-D), +0.132

5. Benjamin Carlson (Suburban Motors H-D), +0.185

6. Eric Stump (OPR/Liberty Chevrolet), +0.231

7. Danny Eslick (Ruthless Racing/Trev Deeley Motorcycles), +0.245

8. Hayden Schultz (Chili Pepper Racing), +0.252

9. Michael Barnes (Chili Pepper Racing), +0.311

10. Barrett Long (Longevity Racing), +0.580

11. David Estok (Thrashed Bike Racing), +0.647

12. Ryan Kerr (Wiseco Performance Products), +4.991 seconds

13. Shane Narbonne (Six Four Motorsports), +25.440 seconds

14. Shelina Moreda (Chili Pepper Racing), +29.765 seconds

15. Paul James (Hoban Cycle/Spectro Oils), +29.864 seconds

16. Darren James (Trev Deeley Motorcycles), +29.953 seconds

17. Josh Chisum (Josh Chisum Racing/Bartels’ H-D), +30.018 seconds

18. Sam Rozynski (Soundwaves.com/Sirius XM Radio), +39.739 seconds

19. Ricky Parker (Acco.org/Chili Pepper Racing), +39.795 seconds

20. Joseph Rozynski (Soundwaves.com/Sirius XM Radio), +1:03.115

21. Jerrett Martin (CPL Systems/Aggressive Insurance), +1:22.671

22. Todd Keesee (Brevard Superbikes), +1:23.095

23. Jon Foy (Jupiter Cycle Racing/Heroic Racing), +1:59.144

24. Steve Rapp (Aerostar Global/Suburban Motors H-D), 3 laps

Company Background

Harley-Davidson Motor Company produces custom, cruiser and touring motorcycles and offers a complete line of Harley-Davidson motorcycle parts, accessories, riding gear and apparel, and general merchandise. For more information, visit harley-davidson.com.

Daytona Beach, FL - Yamaha has had a lot of success and good fortune in the Daytona 200, with 22 victories to its credit but, unfortunately, the 73rd running of America’s iconic motorcycle race did not go quite as the Yamaha Extended Service/Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha team hoped.

However, RoadRace Factory/Yamaha rider Jake Gagne and MotoSport.com/Meen Yamaha rider Jake Lewis did take up the cause for the Yamaha brand and finished the Daytona 200 in second and third place, respectively.

Meanwhile, Garrett Gerloff, who finished second to his former teammate Cameron Beaubier, winner of last year’s Daytona 200, suffered a tipover shortly after his first pitstop of the 57-lap race. The mishap forced Garrett to return to the pits for an unscheduled stop in order for his crew to make repairs to his #8 Y.E.S./Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha YZF-R6. Despite the setback, Garrett still managed to work his way back up to fifth place by the end of the race.

“I wish I hadn’t made a mistake,” Garrett said. “My crew worked so hard to give me a fast bike, and I low-sided it on the lap right after my first pitstop. I had some trouble getting it pulled out of the airfence, but it fired up pretty quickly and looked mostly OK. Still, I decided to re-pit to make sure everything was OK. The worst damage was to the fairing. I lost the windscreen, which made things pretty tough out on the banking.” When asked about his remarkable run back up to fifth position, he said, rather succinctly, “Lemonade out of lemons, I guess. I’d much rather have won the race and not crashed.”

Garrett’s new teammate for 2014, JD Beach, was running a smooth and steady race until he also had a tipover, which damaged his #6 R6. The repairs to JD’s Yamaha were a little more extensive than those required for Garrett’s bike. While in the pits, JD was also evaluated for a concussion and, as a precautionary measure, the team took him to Halifax Medical Center for further tests, just to be safe. No further information was immediately available.

For more racing news, results, photos, and videos, be sure to check out “YamahaMotorUSA” on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

More, from a press release issued by LTD Racing:

NASH TOP-FINISHING KAWASAKI IN SATURDAY SUPERBIKE AT DAYTONA

Daytona Beach, FL – LTD Racing’s Huntley Nash finished 11th in Saturday’s AMA Pro Superbike race at Daytona International Speedway. Nash, on the Neyra Racing Kawasaki ZX-10, was the top-finishing Kawasaki in the race and was three positions and over five seconds closer to the winner than the previous day.

“It was a lot better today than the Friday race,” said Nash. “We beat some people that got us yesterday, and our bike worked much better. It was not as crazy spinning around the banking, and the shock the team chose was a big improvement. In the early going, I hit neutral and lost a couple of positions, and I spent some time getting those back or we could have done a little better, maybe. The team did a great job of improving the bike, and I wish we could go racing again tomorrow.”

“We’re getting better, “said Justin Neyra. “We were behind the eight ball and lost a session on the first day. We improved our traction problem in the first race but we really needed to go further with it and we would have if we’d just had one more session. Huntley improved his lap time, and we know more about the bike. We’re looking forward to getting into our new MoTec system and progressing more.”

The promising project will be back in action May 30 through June 1 at Road America.

More, from a press release issued by Yamalube Westby Racing:

SHIFT OF FATE: YAMALUBE/WESTBY RACING A FACTOR IN 73rd DAYTONA 200

Daytona Beach, FL – Yamalube/Westby Racing’s first-ever race weekend at the Daytona 200 on Saturday nearly had a fairy tale ending after Dane Westby led a considerable portion of the 57-lap race on the team’s beautiful gold, black, and red machine. “The Wolverine” was one of the last four riders in the lead pack just before the last round of pit stops when he crashed coming off the banking during lap 38. Westby, who wasn’t injured apart from some bumps and bruises, was unable to continue because of bike damage.

“I’m just a little sore, and my pride is probably worse,” said Dane. “Our Yamalaube/Westby Racing R6 was the strongest bike out there, I felt. I’m looking forward to going to some other tracks where we’ll be even stronger. I’m really confident in the bike and the team, and I wanted to put the shiny Yamalube bike up there. It would have been a good fight with Danny (Eslick.) We were all putting on a good show.”

Westby led the race numerous times in the draft-fest before a mistake ended his day.

“I think I shifted down a gear too much. The bike started fishtailing, and I was hoping it would come back in line so I could collect it and keep going,” Dane said.

“We’re not disappointed in the effort at all, but we’re saddened for Dane because he tried so hard. He wanted to finish the race and took the result a little hard as one might imagine,” said Team Manager Chuck Giacchetto. “The support for the program has been through the roof, and there are so many positives from this weekend. I feel really good about how we performed. We were in the battle today, and we want to get back there every race.”

More, from a press release issued by Proforma on behalf of Conner Blevins:

TOUGH WEEKEND FOR CONNER BLEVINS AT 2014 DAYTONA

Conner Blevins rode well and turned his best lap times ever at Daytona International Speedway at Round 1 of the 2014 AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore SuperSport Championship, but engine problems kept the eighteen-year-old Oklahoma rider from completing either of the two races on the weekend. Rare mechanical gremlins struck Conner’s original engine as well as the back-up that replaced it.

"I’ve never had anything like this happen the whole time I’ve been racing,” said Conner. “My dad (Robert Blevins) has built my bikes since I started, and they’ve always been fast and reliable. The good part is we know what happened and we’ll fix it for the next race. I turned good lap times in qualifying, and I was looking forward to running at the front in both races.”

About Conner Blevins:

Conner began racing motocross at the age of five, and moved to road race at the age of ten. He has won multiple Expert championships and top-ten overall plates with CMRA on a wide variety of machinery. In 2013, Conner finished sixth overall in his first full season in the AMA Pro SuperSport East championship on his Kawasaki ZX-6R. For more information, contact Conner Blevins at connerblevins@gmail.com or visit Conner on Facebook at www.facebook.com/conner.blevins.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- After battling handling issues all weekend, GEICO Motorcycle Honda GoPro Daytona SportBike rider Jake Zemke was able to bring home a solid top-10 finish at the 73rd running of the Daytona 200 on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.

Placing his GEICO Motorcycle Honda in eighth place, Zemke had a lot about which to be happy. With his previous experience running at Daytona, Saturday's race went exactly as he expected it would.

"Before the first round of pit stops, with the lack of motor, guys would just go by me down the straightaway," Zemke said. "We really couldn't do anything with the other SportBike riders. It wasn't until the tires started to wear down that I was able to make some forward progress. They weren't able to get off the corner quite as well as I could. From then on I was able to start making passes and moving forward."

With the SportBike season-opener behind him, Zemke knows his team has some work to do but is optimistic that they will continue to impress like they did this weekend.

"The guys did a great job on pit stops, and that definitely helped us move up positions in the race," Zemke said. "The crew does a great job, but they have been at this a long time. Now the only thing left to do is have the boys go back to the shop and do some more homework. Hopefully we can get this thing dialed in before the next race."

Zemke wasn't the only one who was able to improve at Daytona. GEICO Motorcycle Honda American SuperBike teammate Chris Ulrich posted a 10th-place finish in his second race of the weekend.

"I was a little tentative at the start," Ulrich said. "I just wanted to get through Turn 1, execute my plan for the race, and move forward from there. We made a pretty big change before the race this morning after getting a better feel for the bike in warm-ups.

"In the end, we're in the top 10, and I'm pleased with being able to roll out of Daytona in one piece. Now it's time to go back and get ready for the SuperBike shootout at Road America."

The SuperBike doubleheader this weekend allowed the GEICO Motorcycle Honda team to keep perfecting the work they had done in the off-season. With slight progress each day, the future looks bright for them.

"We finished the race 12 seconds faster, and that's a big improvement over Friday's times," Ulrich said. "Now the goal for the remaining races is to cut that gap down substantially and improve the finishing position. The SuperBike program is moving along, and I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do in the future races."

Both Zemke and Ulrich will return to battle it out when round two of AMA Pro Road Racing is contested May 30-June 1 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.

More, from a press release issued by Team Hammer:

ROBERTS MARCHES FORWARD IN HIS FIRST DAYTONA 200

Team Hammer did well on Saturday, the final day of the 2014 AMA Pro Road Racing season opener at Daytona International Speedway.

All three of the team's Daytona SportBike riders finished better than they qualified for the 73rd running of the Daytona 200.

GEICO Motorcycle Racing’s Jake Zemke (the 2006 Daytona 200 winner) rode an error-free race, steadily working his way forward in the 57-lap race and finishing eighth after starting 15th on his Honda CBR600RR.

Meanwhile, M4 SportbikeTrackGear.com Racing's Joe Roberts continued his meteoric rise. The 16-year-old young gun avoided making any rookie mistakes in what can prove to be a treacherous event.

Roberts continually improved his speed aboard his Honda CBR600RR, just as he had done from the start of practice. After qualifying 18th, Roberts fought his way up through the field and laid down his best time on the the final lap, his 1:52.808 coming within 0.097-second of earning a spot in the top 10.

Roberts, who finished 11th in what was both his Daytona SportBike and Daytona 200 debut, said, "We almost got a top 10. I was actually in 10th after my second pit stop, which was cool. We struggled some all weekend and never quite found the set-up we wanted. I was just trying to get the best position I could."

MPH Racing's Melissa Paris, who finished in the top 10 in last year's Daytona 200, encountered a problem when a wheel spacer fell out during her final scheduled pit stop, which forced her to make another pit stop. Unfortunately, she crashed out a handful of laps later and was credited with 27th place aboard her Team Hammer Contract Services-prepared Honda CBR600RR.

Earlier in the day, GEICO Motorcycle Racing's Chris Ulrich earned a top-10 finish in the day's AMA Pro Superbike race. The Californian improved upon his 13th-place result in Friday's season opener, finishing 10th in Saturday's 15-lap Superbike race on his CBR1000RR.

Team Hammer will now set its sights on the upcoming three-round Superbike Shootout. First up will be a stop at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California on April 26-27 for an event held in conjunction with Fastrack Riders and WERA Motorcycle Roadracing. That will be immediately followed by the second Superbike Shootout with AFM at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California May 3-4. The Superbike Shootout will then conclude with UtahSBA at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah May 24-25.

More, from a press release issued by Triumph North America:

DANNY ESLICK AND RIDERS DISCOUNT WIN DAYTONA 200;

FIRST TIME A TRIUMPH WINS DAYTONA 200 FROM THE POLE POSITION

Four Of The Top 10 Finishers Ride Triumph’s Daytona 675

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 15, 2014) – Danny Eslick and the #69 Riders Discount Racing team made history by becoming the first Triumph team to win the Daytona 200 from the pole position. Eslick is the first Triumph rider to win the race since Gary Nixon in 1967 and the pole position since Paul Smart in 1971.

“Gary Nixon was the last to win this race on a Triumph so this is pretty special. It doesn’t get much better than that,” said Eslick. “Whether I led out of the chicane or if I was fourth out of the chicane I knew I could lead at the stripe. Hats off to the Riders Discount crew for an awesome motorcycle.”

Eslick, of Broken Arrow, Okla., led 44 of the 200-mile race’s 57 laps. His margin of victory was an incredible 10.975 seconds.

"Pit stops for the Daytona 200 are the most important thing,” said the two-time AMA Pro Daytona SportBike champion. “You can’t have bad stops and we had great pit stops.”

“Danny and the Riders Discount team ran an incredible race. It was absolutely amazing to watch them make history,” said Greg Heichelbech, CEO of Triumph North America. “In addition to becoming the first Triumph to win the Daytona 200 from the pole, four of the top ten are Triumphs. Congratulations to all of the Triumph riders and teams for a great race at Daytona.”

A Triumph previously won the Daytona 200 three times. Don Burnett won in 1962, Buddy Elmore won in 1966, and Gary Nixon won in 1967. The first Triumph Daytona production motorcycle appeared in 1967, the Tiger T100R Daytona, as a tribute to Elmore’s victory.

This is the third time that a Triumph won the pole for the Daytona 200. Gene Romero was fast qualifier in 1970 with his 750cc Triumph Trident, and Paul Smart backed it up in 1971.

Four of the top ten finishers rode the Triumph Daytona 675. They include:

#69 Danny Eslick, Riders Discount Triumph

4. #50 Bobby Fong, Latus Motors/Castrol/Triumph

7. # 68 Luke Stapleford, Profile Racing

10. #15 Steve Rapp, D&D Cycles/Castrol/Triumph

15. #42 Kenny Riedmann, RRM/Castrol/Triumph

24. #71 Lee Farmer, Apex Race Services

29. #21 Elena Myers, Apex Manufacturing/Castrol/Triumph

31. #40 Jason DiSalvo, Sportbike Track Time/Castrol/Triumph

More, from a press release issued by KTM North America:

Fillmore Finishes 6th at Daytona SuperBike Race

Daytona Beach, FL – KTM/HMC Factory Superbike Racing Team rider Chris Fillmore went 6-6 for the weekend at the opening round of the AMA Pro SuperBike Racing Series held at Daytona International Speedway.

Fillmore put together a great qualifying time on Friday which earned him a start spot on the second row for the afternoon race. Off the line, Fillmore was 7th place. On the second lap he was able to make a pass around David Anthony to takeover 6th place.

“I was able to battle with Anthony for a few laps, which was pretty fun,” stated Fillmore. “I continued to push and do what I could but I lost the position to him at the end which dropped me to 6th where I would finish.”

The next morning, Fillmore started from the second row once more. This time he earned a better jump off the line and was 5th after the first lap. On the third lap, he began another battle with Anthony for the 5th place position. The two riders continued to swap the position almost every lap for the remainder of the race. When Hayes crashed near the end of the race, both Fillmore and Anthony moved up a position. Soon they felt pressure from Clark and they began a three-rider battle for 4th place.

“It was an exciting race today,” stated Fillmore. “I battled with Anthony the whole time. Unfortunately, we both got passed by Clark with two laps to go. We could stay in his draft but could not pull around him. I tried everything I could to move up but had to settle for 6th. Overall, I am happy to walk away from Daytona with two 6th place results. Our team has put in a lot of effort during the off-season and it shows with how much more competitive we were on this course today. I am looking forward to the next race.”